Ta'Lon Cooper had every intention of getting himself open to hit the game-tying shot at the end of regulation before turning over the ball in the Gophers' 63-60 loss Tuesday at Wisconsin.
Ben Johnson on the Gophers' careless turnovers: 'To win games that stuff can't happen'
Coming off 20 turnovers in Tuesday's loss, the Gophers need their playmakers to be more careful with the ball Saturday vs. Nebraska.
January 7, 2023 at 2:35PM
"It just hurts to lose like that because of how hard we fought back," Cooper said. "I didn't realize I had six turnovers. I was just trying to play."
The junior point guard ended any chance to pull off the upset in Madison with his team's 20th turnover of the game, but the Gophers want Cooper and others to remain confident to make those plays.
"We don't have a bunch of guys who can play in ball screens and create off the bounce," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said. "He's kind of the main focal point. Being the main focal point of the other team, he's still able to set guys up, find guys and deliver the ball."
Entering Saturday's game against Nebraska, Cooper ranks second in the Big Ten with 6.6 assists per game, but he showed he can lead in other ways with a team-high 16 points against the Badgers.
Cooper has six double figure scoring games this season, but he'll need to figure out how to be aggressive offensively without being careless with the ball. The same goes for junior forward Jamison Battle, who had 13 points, nine rebounds and also six turnovers.
The Gophers' top three scorers Cooper, Battle and Dawson Garcia combined for 43 points, but also 15 of the team's 20 turnovers.
"We need those guys to make plays," Johnson said. "They have to look to attack and make plays. Now it's more of just being a mature player and not having the careless type turnovers. … Now it's just we have to tighten that up because they're good enough players where that type of stuff shouldn't happen. They know to win games that stuff can't happen."
The Gophers (13.9) and Nebraska (13.0) rank second and third in the Big Ten in turnovers committed per game this season.
GAME INFO
Time: 11 a.m. CT, Saturday. Where: Williams Arena. Line: Gophers 3.5-point underdogs. Series: Minnesota leads 54-22, including 78-65 loss on Feb. 9, 2022. TV: Big Ten Network. Online/Live video: BTN-plus. Radio: KFAN-100.3-AM
PROJECTED STARTERS
MINNESOTA GOPHERS (6-7, 0-3 BIG TEN)
Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG
G – Ta'Lon Cooper 6-4 195 Jr. 10.4
G – Taurus Samuels 6-1 195 Sr. 1.9
F – Jamison Battle 6-7 220 Jr. 12.9
F – Joshua Ola-Joseph 6-7 215 Fr. 6.8
F – Dawson Garcia 6-11 230 So. 14.2
Key reserves – Pharrel Payne, F/C, 6-9, Fr., 7.8 ppg; Braeden Carrington, G, 6-4, Fr., 7.4 ppg; Jaden Henley, G, 6-7, Fr., 4.2 ppg; Treyton Thompson, C, 7-0, So., 2.0 ppg.
Coach: Ben Johnson 19-24 career (2nd season)
Notable: The Gophers announced 6-8 freshman forward Kadyn Betts will redshirt the 2022-23 season after reclassifying and joining the team early this year. Betts will be part of a highly touted 2023 class that was signed Nov. 9, including five-star center Dennis Evans III and four-star guard Cameron Christie. … Junior forward Jamison Battle missed the first four games of the season after recovering from foot surgery. The All-Big Ten preseason selection made his season debut Nov. 21 vs. Cal Baptist in the SoCal Challenge in California. ... Freshman guard Braeden Carrington, who won Minnesota's Mr. Basketball and a state title last season at Park Center, made his season debut Nov. 14 against DePaul after being out with an ankle sprain. … The Gophers have lost two straight games against Nebraska, but they were both on the road in 2021 and 2022. They have won three in a row against the Cornhuskers at the Barn since 2018.
NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS (8-7, 1-3)
Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG
G – C.J. Wilcher 6-5 208 So. 9.5
G – Sam Griesel 6-7 216 Sr. 10.6
G – Emmanuel Bandoumel 6-4 187 Sr. 9.4
F – Juwan Gary 6-6 215 Jr. 9.3
F – Derrick Walker Jr. 6-9 245 Sr. 13.7
Reserves – Keisei Tominaga, G, 6-2, Jr., 10.0 ppg; Wilhelm Breidenbach, F, 6-10, So., 4.3 ppg; Jamarques Lawrence, G, 6-3, Fr., 1.3 ppg; Denim Dawson, G, 6-6, Fr., 1.5 ppg; Blaise Keita, F, 6-11, So., 2.9 ppg.
Coach: Fred Hoiberg 147-130 (5th season)
Notable: The Huskers experienced little progress in Hoiberg's first three seasons in wins and losses going from back-to-back seven-win seasons to a 10-22 record in 2021-22. But the Huskers only need three more victories to surpass last season's win total. The key to continuing that turnaround is sixth-year senior Derrick Walker Jr., who missed the first five games of the season. Walker's having the best year of his career with nine double figure games, including 22 points and eight rebounds in a win vs. Creighton and double-doubles vs. Purdue, Florida State, and Memphis. He had 23 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks combined in the last two wins vs. the Gophers in 2021 and 2022.
Fuller's score prediction: Gophers 70, Nebraska 67.
Junior Mara Braun rebroke the same bone in her foot as last season, so the 6-0 Gophers will be without their leading scorer and top overall player.
